Roasted Eggplant Mash

If you are an Indian or have dined at an Indian restaurant, the chances are high you would have tasted eggplant in some form. It is such a versatile vegetable and recently the world seems to have woken up to its nutritional benefits too. While the practitioners of Ayurveda might argue that too much of eggplant in your diet might do more damage than good but as I always say, moderation is the key or inversely- excess of anything is bad! I am personally a HUGE eggplant fan and have to remind myself to eat it not more than once or twice a week. And my grandma’s recipe of Roasted Eggplant Mash is s “mashing” to say the least. The specialty of the recipe being the earthy smoky flavor of various ingredients which the roasting process brings out It goes well with rice or whole-wheat plain or even stuffed parathas. You could even serve it as a side with some pita bread as a variation to your regular eggplant hummus. Remember to include eggplant in your weekend grocery list and make it this weekend. You shall not regret it!

Mustard oil-2 tablespoons (This oil gives a nice smoky and earthy flavor to the dish but if you find the original taste of the oil too strong, feel free to use safflower or peanut oil)

Instructions

Cut the eggplants into half lengthwise but not all the way till the end so that you retain the stem. This comes in handy in flipping the eggplants when roasting it on stove top

Applying medium pressure, embed the garlic cloves into the partially sliced eggplants. Now place the eggplant on the stovetop with the flame on high. Roast on high flame turning it over carefully using tongs once the lower side is done. It takes around 5-7 minutes for an entire eggplant to be roasted on high flame. You know it is well roasted when the outer purple skin is charred and starts to peel off; the inner pulp changes color to an off-white from white. Let it cool and then peel the skin off completely and chop off the stem as well. Take out the garlic embedded within, peel and keep aside

While the eggplants are roasting pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with foil. Using a toothpick poke some holes into the tomato. Place the tomato and green chilies on the baking tray, brush with some mustard oil and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the chilies are crisp and brown and tomato just starts to shrink and a toothpick or a fork when inserted glides through. Turn off the heat and let cool. You could also roast the tomato and chilli on an iron skillet

Once all the ingredients have cooled off to room temperature, place them in a wide bowl, add the boiled potato if using and mash them together using your hands or a fork. Add salt and drizzle with a teaspoon of oil and give the bowl another nice mix before garnishing with chopped coriander